October 30, 2002

David Horowitz labels last weekend's

David Horowitz labels last weekend's anti-war protesters "Communists." Horowitz is more afraid of them than I am. He writes:

The fact that a movement of America-hating communists, who regard their own country as the enemy and who sympathize with America's terrorist adversaries should be able to marshal 100, 000 activists is a cause for concern. The communist New Left left was not able to organize such large demonstrations in support of the Communists in Vietnam until the draft was instituted in 1964. We have no draft in this country now. The size of these demonstrations is a reflection of the growth of a treacherous anti-American radicalism in this country that has no Communist Party per se, but is just as dedicated to America's destruction. The fact that the new technologies of war make it possible for terrorist groups both foreign and domestic to inflict enormous damage on industrial democracies like ours, and that our borders are porous and our security capabilities wanting, underscores the daunting dangers posed by this internal threat.

That the desire to hurt this country and its citizens is uppermost in the protesters minds was manifest in their reactions at the Washington march. According to the Los Angeles Times the demon singled out by the demonstrators for the greatest opprobrium was Attorney General John Ashcroft - the man responsible for the security of 300 million Americans: "The most unpopular figure of all appeared to be John Ashcroft, the U.S. attorney general. The mere mention of his name prompted boos to swell from the crowd, followed by semi-obscene chants."

I'm sure there were a few veterans of the violent New Left of the 1960s and 1970s at the march, but I'm going to guess most of the protesters were simply knee-jerk Lefty, unthinking anti-war types. Rather than any possible domestic terrorism from these people, I'm more afraid of the ideas these people espouse. Claiming American can do no right and should do nothing to protect itself is something that can gnaw away at domestic tranquility.

"100,000 Communists March On Washington To Give Aid and Comfort to Saddam Hussein"